Wish-fulfillment for a burning world From the shining big-screen debut of Iron Man to the large amounts of green produced by the Incredible Hulk, this was the year the public couldn't get enough of their favorite heroes.

Wish-fulfillment for a burning world From the shining big-screen debut of Iron Man to the large amounts of green produced by the Incredible Hulk, this was the year the public couldn't get enough of their favorite heroes.

Pride at 39 Not to downplay this year's Pride Week or anything, but the annual weeklong mélange of events geared toward New England's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is just one year shy of its 40th anniversary. Which makes it sort of like the night before Christmas.

Right-wing terror Conservatives scoffed in April when the Department of Homeland Security warned that the United States could face another wave of homegrown attacks.

Avoiding a border war It's a matter of moments before the likes of Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly scapegoat the believed-to-be-illegal-immigrant suspects in last week's Brookline rape case for every problem in America.

Where was everybody on St. Patrick's Day? We piled into a car, we three intrepid journalists, and set out from the Back Bay Sunday morning to find our way to Royal Bolling’s party. “Roxbury’s Salute to St. Patrick’s Day,” as Bolling called it, should be easy to find, we reasoned. After all, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge. A.F. & M., was located at 18 Washington Street. All we had to do was follow Washington Street, right?

Menino's junked mail Two years ago, when I wrote a column griping about the Boston media's apathy-inducing disinterest in city politics, Boston Globe metro editor Brian McGrory told me his paper had given the lackluster 2007 elections as much coverage as they deserved, but hinted that things would be different in 2009.

Whalin' on Palin Give Sarah Palin this: she isn’t driven by polls. If she wanted to improve her chances at political success, she would have used her book and promotional tour to convince America that she has substance and gravitas .